I recognised him straight away in the courtroom. I see his face every night, every detail of what happened

A WOMAN who feared for her life said she cannot forgive the "inhuman" boy who sexually attacked her.

The married woman in her thirties was walking her dog with her two young children in Darlington when she was pulled into bushes by a 15-year-old youth.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said after the verdict: "It's a great relief. But I don't want him to be released until everybody is sure that he won't do it again. It's no comfort to me that he will be on the sex offenders' register.

"I really believe there is something seriously wrong with him.

"I don't connect with adolescents as well as I could. I can't understand how he could do that."

She said the attack has left her more cynical and she finds it difficult to let her children go out and play.

"My younger child has become very protective and it worries me that she is worrying about me," she said.

"I have never walked my dog since the attack," she said. "He has changed my personality. I was quite optimistic, trusting and confident before."

She added: "I have little self-belief and I don't know why because it's not my fault. I don't understand why. I can't forgive him. He was not on drugs and he was very clever. He was bright as a button. He knew what he was doing.

"It's not about sex, it's about control. It's because he had me under his control, that's what he got off on.

"I am sure he is a potentially much worse offender. I feel lucky to get away with what I did. I knew about halfway through that to get through this I had to do exactly what he told me to do because he would kill me.

"I go through it in my mind every single night over and over again. I have trouble sleeping every night and when I finally do fall asleep I have nightmares," she said.

"You feel very lonely when you're with people because no one knows how you feel.

"And it's completely confusing because he is a child. I have never experienced a child having so much control over me. He didn't have learning disabilities but I feel he is underveloped emotionally.

"He was like a robot.

"I recognised him straight away in the courtroom. I see his face every night, every detail of what happened to me."

She said she felt sorry for his family because she said: "They haven't done anything wrong."

She said: "The court was using his age in his favour but I think it's more worrying because of his age. When did he start? What would he have gone on to do? I have been really trying to find something in him that's human but there isn't even a part of him that's human.

"He's a very dangerous person."

Her husband said: "Her confidence has completely gone. There is a monster in there that has not wakened yet.

"Everything's changed. The incident room brought it all home to me. I don't think I have come to terms with it. It has added pressure on to our relationship. Hopefully now we can start afresh."

WDC Debbie Morrison, formerly of Darlington CID, said: "The whole team is delighted with the verdict. It was a very difficult case for everyone involved."